AFX Speedway.

[downtowndeco]

After cleaning the rails & making sure everything still rocked I gave the track & borders a second coat of paint.

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After that dried I cleaned the rails again, tested it again (it still rocked) and then added a "racing groove". A little on my philosophy about this. I know that after the cars run for a while they will start to lay down some rubber & it will produce a "racing groove" type of effect. The problem with it IMO, is that it is never where it would actually be on a real race track, rather, it just follows the slots.

What I want to do is to create the impression that this is a real track, and with that in mind, I painted on a groove where it would appear on an actual track. When the cars are zipping around at a scale 400 mph the groove I've painted on just seems to look right & IMO it doesn't look out of place at all, because the cars are moving so fast no one notices that they are not actually following the groove.

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Here's how I did it. I put a little flat black acrylic paint in a piece of cardboard, dabbed a bit of water on the rag to sort of thin it down and then, in big "swooping" motions, I rubbed the watered down black paint onto the track & borders. It was almost like a stain in fact.

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Before each motion I would sort of think about it a moment & try to imagine what path an actual race car would take at speed. I'm not sure if I got every corner right but I think it came out pretty good. If I got a badly placed "swoop" that didn't look right I dampened the rag w/water & it least lightened it a bit so it would fade into the track. Questions or comments?

[TuscoTodd]

That is slick! I like it! :D

[downtowndeco]

I started to add the edging white stripes along the edges of the pavement. I use the vinyl lane marking tape from Tracktape.

This is a great product but care must be used when applying it so that you get good results. It's super sticky, which means it even sticks to the roll of tape itself pretty well. Since its vinyl, if you pull too hard on it when you are unrolling a strip to apply, you may streeeeeetch the tape & distort it. This can cause 2 problems. One, you'll have a section where the line is thinner than the rest which will look funny, and secondly, if you don't let the tape "rest a moment or two before you apply it, when the tape naturally contracts (like a rubber band that has been stretched, and then had the tension relaxed) it will pull up & make shortcuts across your borders or track.

Here's the way I apply it. First, I unroll about a 1' section of the tape. I don't cut it off the roll, but just leave it attached so I can do as long of a continual section as I can. I pull off a length, and then let it contract & relax for a few moments before I start to press it into place. If I get a radius wrong or it looks goofy I simply peel it back up & try & relay it. Obviously you can't just keep doing this over & over or eventually it won't be sticky enough but you can usually get 2 or 3 shots at it. If I get a section that is 95% good except for a small section I sometimes just cut that out & splice in a new piece of tape & lay that to correct my bad alignment.

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I just did one small corner tonight. I didn't want to go hog wild & do the whole thing in one night & then come out to the cold shop tomorrow & find the temperature had caused the tape to do something weird. If this holds good for a day or two I'll just keep plunking away at it until it's done.

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The line of palms are something I'm playing with. There will be a concrete lane divider/median separating the main straight from the back straight but I'm thinking of having it landscaped w/palms like you might see at track in California. I dunno, like I said, I'm still playing with it.

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Questions or comments are always welcome on this tutorial.

[Austin]

I just keep reading so don't stop posting. Thanks

I really love what you are doing

[vins123]

Hi
It is looking really nice, it is impressive
thanks for sharing
Sylvain

[downtowndeco]

OK, I finished taping the basic border. There are one or two places that I am going to fix it a bit but you get the idea. The yellow & blue tire barriers are plaster castings I made.

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Something is going to go in the big open area between the two tracks in this corner, I just don't know what yet. A sand trap, tire barriers or...?

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Next up is some yellow tape as well as some sponsors logos that have been painted onto the pit lane & of course, I need to add the "rumble strips" in the corners. Not looking too bad for some good old AFX track if I don't mind saying so. Runs pretty good too. : )

[TuscoTodd]

WOW!!!! It is impressive how much of a difference that has made! VERY cool!!! :D

[dreinecke]

SERIOUSLY nice work! This is really shaping up to be one of my favorite HO layouts. As per your usual efforts, the buildings are simply outstanding too!

[dge467]

Great looking layout! I like the aprons and the structures too!

[btaylor]

How about a scale campground like they had at road America to go in that space? lots of great scale stuff out there for that,and you could easily scratch build some stuff with your talent.
Bob

[vins123]

hi
it is looking really really really nice.
Sylvain

[Rooster]

Incredible work!! AWESOME. I have been following this thread and will continue!!!!!

[downtowndeco]

I started to add guardrails. These are 1/32 Scalextric painted w/the tabs trimmed off & then hot glued in place. They will get sponsors logos once I decide the exact type of circuit I want to model.

I think the best use of that relatively small space between the track & the guardrail is tire stacks. Anyone have a few hundred old HO tires you want to get rid of cheap? : )

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[ChallengerGuy]

The first picture above had me thinking someone wants to mimic the look in HO...well done, both from a photography perspective and a HO perspective. I particularly like the dirty racing line that weaves through the corner as seen in the second picture. Nice use of those barriers - that's what sold the shot for me.

[downtowndeco]

I double sided the armco in that one section as suggested by Stephen (thanks!). It kind of bugged me when I first laid the single rail yesterday but I was hoping no one would notice. : ) When in doubt always go to your reference photos.

I also test fit a few of the pre-painted tire stacks I had to see what they would look like. So far, so good.

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